Children, Schools and Families written question – answered at on 16 July 2007.
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2007, Official Report, column 1099W, on teachers: science, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is a sufficient number of new teachers with a specialism in (a) physics and (b) chemistry.
We are providing a bursary of £9,000 to PGCE trainee teachers in the sciences and a golden hello of £5,000 after their first year of teaching. As a further incentive, providers of teacher training receive an additional 'bounty' of £1,000 for every place on a science course which is taken up by a physics or chemistry graduate.
The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) funds enhancement courses to increase the number of specialist mathematics, physics and chemistry teachers. These courses have enabled over 1,000 additional people to qualify to teach in these subjects.
Over the last five years we have been running the Student Associate Scheme which focuses on physics and chemistry and places high quality undergraduates in schools for up to 20 days to provide curriculum support for teachers and to carry out project work with pupils. It also gives participants a taste of teaching as a career. The Secretary of State for Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) has just announced that participation in the scheme is to be doubled.
The TDA's highly successful advertising campaign has also contributed significantly to increases in teacher recruitment, and is now concentrating on attracting teachers to priority subjects, including mathematics, physics and chemistry.
Vacancy rates for science teachers in secondary schools have fallen by almost half—from 1.6 per cent. in 2001 to 0.9 per cent. in 2006, when 3,007 people started mainstream teacher training in science. Of these, 12 per cent. were studying physics, 18 per cent. chemistry, 30 per cent. biology and 40 per cent. general science.
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